Keirsey Temperament Sorter

The Keirsey Temperament Sorter is a self-assessed personality questionnaire. It was first introduced in the book Please Understand Me. The KTS is closely associated with the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator ; however, there are significant practical and theoretical differences between the two personality questionnaires and their associated different descriptions.

Historical development

David Keirsey became familiar with the work of Ernst Kretschmer and William Sheldon after WWII in the late 1940s. Keirsey developed the Temperament Sorter after being introduced to the MBTI in 1956. Tracing the idea of temperament back to the ancient Greeks, Keirsey developed a modern temperament theory in his books Please Understand Me, Portraits of Temperament, Presidential Temperament, Please Understand Me II, Brains and Careers, and Personology. The table below shows how Myers' and Keirsey's types correspond to other temperament theories or constructs, dating from ancient times to the present day.

Four temperaments

Keirsey expanded on the ancient study of temperament by Hippocrates and Plato. In his works, Keirsey used the names suggested by Plato: Artisan, Guardian, Idealist, and Rational. Keirsey divided each of the four temperaments into two categories, each with two types. The resulting 16 types correlate with the 16 personality types described by Briggs and Myers.

Artisan

The Artisan temperament is one of four temperaments defined by Keirsey. Correlating with the SP Myers-Briggs types, the Artisan temperament comprises the following role variants : Composer, Crafter, Performer, and Promoter. Artisans are concrete and adaptable. Seeking stimulation and virtuosity, they are concerned with making an impact. Their greatest strength is tactics. They excel at troubleshooting, agility, and the manipulation of tools, instruments, and equipment. At their worst, entertainers can become pleasure-seeking, and operators can become hedonistic. The two roles are as follows:

Guardian

The Guardian temperament is one of four temperaments defined by Keirsey. Correlating with the SJ Myers–Briggs types, the Guardian temperament comprises the following role variants : Inspector, Protector, Provider, and Supervisor. Guardians are concrete and organized. Seeking security and belonging, they are concerned with responsibility and duty. Their greatest strength is logistics. They excel at organizing, facilitating, checking, and supporting. The two roles are as follows:

Idealist

The Idealist temperament is one of four temperaments defined by Keirsey. Correlating with the NF Myers-Briggs types, the Idealist temperament comprises the following role variants : Champion, Counselor, Healer, and Teacher. Idealists are abstract and compassionate. Seeking meaning and significance, they are concerned with personal growth and finding their own unique identity. Their greatest strength is diplomacy. They excel at clarifying, individualizing, unifying, and inspiring. The two roles are as follows:

Rational

The Rational temperament is one of the four temperaments defined by Keirsey. Correlating with the NT Myers-Briggs types, the Rational temperament comprises the following role variants : Architect, Fieldmarshal, Inventor, and Mastermind. Rationals are abstract and objective. Seeking mastery and self-control, they are concerned with their own knowledge and competence. Their greatest strength is strategy. They excel in any kind of logical investigation such as engineering, conceptualizing, theorizing, and coordinating. The two roles are as follows:

Four interaction roles

In his book Brains and Careers, Keirsey divided the role variants into groupings that he called "four differing roles that people play in face-to-face interaction with one another."
There are two Proactive Enterprising Roles:

Initiators : Field Marshal, Supervisor, Promoter, Teacher —Preemptive
Contenders : Mastermind, Inspector, Crafter, Counselor —Competitive

There are two Reactive Inquiring Roles:

Coworkers : Inventor, Provider, Performer, Champion —Collaborative
Responders : Architect, Protector, Composer, Healer —Accommodative

The roles were implied in the informing/directing factor introduced in Portraits of Temperament. In his 2010 follow-up book, Personology, "Coworkers" is renamed "Collaborators" and "Responders" is renamed "Accommodators".

Temperaments and intelligence types

The following table shows how the four rings relate to one another and to the various temperaments.

	Temperament	Role	Role Variant
Concrete or Abstract ?	Cooperative or Pragmatic?	Informative or Directive?	Expressive or Attentive?
Observant	Guardian Logistical	Conservator Supporting	Provider : Supplying
Observant	Guardian Logistical	Conservator Supporting	Protector : Securing
Observant	Guardian Logistical	Administrator Regulating	Supervisor : Enforcing
Observant	Guardian Logistical	Administrator Regulating	Inspector : Certifying
Observant	Artisan Tactical	Entertainer Improvising	Performer : Demonstrating
Observant	Artisan Tactical	Entertainer Improvising	Composer : Synthesizing
Observant	Artisan Tactical	Operator Expediting	Promoter : Persuading
Observant	Artisan Tactical	Operator Expediting	Crafter : Instrumenting
Introspective	Idealist Diplomatic	Advocate Mediating	Champion : Motivating
Introspective	Idealist Diplomatic	Advocate Mediating	Healer : Conciliating
Introspective	Idealist Diplomatic	Mentor Developing	Teacher : Educating
Introspective	Idealist Diplomatic	Mentor Developing	Counselor : Guiding
Introspective	Rational Strategic	Engineer Constructing	Inventor : Devising
Introspective	Rational Strategic	Engineer Constructing	Architect : Designing
Introspective	Rational Strategic	Coordinator Arranging	Fieldmarshal : Mobilizing
Introspective	Rational Strategic	Coordinator Arranging	Mastermind : Entailing

Myers–Briggs types versus Keirsey's temperaments

The type descriptions of Isabel Myers differ from the character descriptions of David Keirsey in several important ways:

Myers primarily focused on how people think and feel; Keirsey focused more on behavior, which is directly observable.
Myers's descriptions use a linear four-factor model; Keirsey's descriptions use a systems field theory model.
Myers, following Jung's lead, emphasized the extraversion/introversion dichotomy; Keirsey's model places greater importance on the sensing/intuition dichotomy.
Myers grouped types by 'function attitudes'; Keirsey, by temperament.

Myers grouped types according to cognitive function: the 'thinking type' grouping for those with dominant thinking; the 'intuitive type' grouping for those with dominant intuition; the 'feeling type' grouping for those with dominant feeling; and the 'sensing type' grouping for those with dominant sensing. Keirsey's temperaments correlate with Myers' combinations of preferences: Guardians with sensing plus judging ; Artisans with sensing plus perceiving ; Idealists with intuition plus feeling ; and Rationals with intuition plus thinking.
Myers paired ESTJs with ENTJs, ISFPs with INFPs, INTPs with ISTPs, and ENFJs with ESFJs because they share the same dominant function attitude. ESTJs and ENTJs are both extraverted thinkers, ISFPs and INFPs are both introverted feelers, INTPs and ISTPs are both introverted thinkers, and ENFJs and ESFJs are both extraverted feelers. Keirsey holds that these same groupings are very different from one another because they are of different temperaments. ESTJs are Guardians whereas ENTJs are Rationals; ISFPs are Artisans whereas INFPs are Idealists; INTPs are Rationals whereas ISTPs are Artisans; and ENFJs are Idealists whereas ESFJs are Guardians.